Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Conference in New York to Raise Awareness on Human Trafficking, Survivors' Empowerment and Community Involvement

Second Summit on Human Trafficking: Communities Mobilizing Against Modern Day Slavery Focus on Asia America to be held at St. James Episcopal Church, 84-07 Broadway, Elmhurst (Queens), NY 11373 on Saturday, May 7th, 2016 from 9 AM to 6 PM

New York - Communities Mobilizing Against Modern Day Slavery: Focus on Asia America is a conference organized by the Asiamerica Mission to End Modern Slavery (AMEMS) a program of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island and the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) which seeks to put survivor voices in the lead of building a community-based movement towards ending human trafficking. Join us for a day of dialogue and strategizing with community supporters and advocates. Hear from trafficking survivors who are standing for their right to dignity, respect, and security.

This summit aims to:

· empower trafficked survivors;

· educate and build broad awareness with the community on the issue of labor, trafficking and modern day slavery; and

· initiate a community-based support network for trafficking survivors, dedicated to working with AMEMS as advocates and partners.

Through panel of speakers ranging from church leaders, community organizers, trafficked survivors and discussion workshops, we hope to engage you in understanding the issue of modern day slavery.

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation. After drug dealing, human trafficking is tied with illegal arms dealing as the second largest international crime industry and the fastest growing. It is a market-based industry with an estimated global annual profit of USD $31.6 billion. There are 2 general types of human trafficking—sex trafficking and labor trafficking

What is Labor Trafficking?

Labor trafficking is a common type of human trafficking that involves recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

Human Trafficking in the US

• The US State Dept. estimates 50,000 people trafficked into the US each year

• Human trafficking occurs in all 50 states, with the top 3 being California, Texas, and New York.

• In 2006, only 5,808 traffickers were convicted, which means that for every 800 people trafficked, only 1 person was convicted

• More than half of all foreign persons trafficked to the US are from the Asia-Pacific region, and are female.